Can You Pray For Me?

Can you pray for me? How do you respond when someone asks you to pray?

I often get requests for me to pray, but I am often not sure what to pray for. Sometimes the need is very clear, but at other times it is vague.

They want me to pray, to intercede, to present their need, but do they truly know their deepest below the surface needs?

I also wonder if they are paying attention to notice how God might answer their needs? It may be yes and in exactly the way they would like it to happen or yes, but in a completely different way. Maybe the answer will ‘No’ or ‘not yet’?

Will they return and give thanks and worship to God? Or will be like nine out of ten that ignore the giver of good things? (Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy)

As you can see, I ponder over many things when people ask me to pray.

Teach us how to pray

The followers of Jesus once came to him and asked him to teach them how to pray, and this was his response.

‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.

But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

‘When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

‘Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one. Matthew 6: 5-13

Pray for me

So I pray within the context of what Jesus was saying. I hold this prayer as a template of intimacy that Jesus is pointing us towards.

Let’s put your name into the prayer

God. You are a perfect, loving, and intimate parent that welcomes _____ like a little child.
You surround _____.
Reveal yourself fully to ____ .
May your full symphony of colour and light dance around _____.
Set the _____’s world right. The way you always intended it to be.
Do what’s best for you, God. We don’t always know precisely what that is, but we trust you to get it right.
You have a larger story going on that _____ is part of.
Meet _____’s every need. Even those _____ doesn’t even know they have.
Forgive _____ for their wandering focus away from you. Help _____ forgive others. May _____ learn to live lightly and freely.
Keep _____ safe.
Keep _____ close into your presence like a little chicken under its mother’s wings.
Alert _____ to any devilish distractions that would shift their gaze away from you.
For you have the whole world, including _____’s, in your hands. May _____ know this deeply and grow in trust.

The Shepherd

Another prayer that can be used as a template for our prayer is that of Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff—
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long. Psalm 23

Let’s insert your name into this song.

Good shepherd of the flock may _____ surrender their sheep like self into your care.
Help _____ to realise that you supply their deepest wants and needs.
May _____ submit to those times you want them to quietly rest and ruminate on your goodness.
Help _____ to know your leading alongside places where they might like _____ to stop.
Restore, revive, renovate the dryness of _____’s soul.
Lead _____ on the right paths and keep them off the wrong ones because who you are and your reputation is at stake here.
When _____ is in a dark place, help them see you are walking them through it. There is an end to it. Help them to trust and find comfort in your direction and shepherd’s oversight.
Help _____ to see that you prepare ahead of times flat places, tablelands, where they can rest and recover safely.
May _____’s life have an oil of healing poured over it, so they know your overflowing love for them. That it then flows out of them and touches others.
Because of all of this _____ knows that there is a level of goodness and mercy touching everything they do and forever.
May _____ quietly keep listening for assurances of the Good Shepherd.

The Millimetres

I also pray for the millimetres.

We often want the big changes, but in reality the big changes are made up of thousands of little millimetres.

God loves the small. The smallness of mustard seeds.

For example, if someone asks me to pray for the healing of a mental illness, I may well pray for the small nanometre connections in the brain. That the little places within the very structure of the brain would begin to change. That medication and other therapies would begin to help.

I pray for small believing in big.